Azernews.Az

By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade

Starting from April 5, financial assistance will be provided to the entrepreneurs who have suffered as a result of the fire in the Diglas shopping center in Baku.

However, this incident highlights relevance and vitality of insurance in business environment.

The chairman of Small and Medium Business Development Agency, Orkhan Mammadov, said in an interview with Trend that the Agency plans to help expand cooperation between insurance companies and entrepreneurs.

As Mammadov noted, the fire that occurred in the Diglas shopping center once again showed the need for insurance in various fields, especially in business, the importance of insuring their goods and property.

“Nowhere in the world during such incidents the state takes upon itself the payment for damage to the private sector. The payment is made by the Azerbaijani state for damage caused by natural disasters and fires, providing support to affected people is coherent. The order of the head of state to pay for damages to entrepreneurs caused by fire in the shopping center Diglas, once again shows that the government is the biggest support of entrepreneurs.”

"In accordance with the instructions of the head of state, for three days, the Working Group received each entrepreneur in person, listened to their problems, learned about the material damage caused to them, discussed the work that must be done to eliminate the difficulties encountered,” Mammadov said.

The head of the agency noted that thanks to insurance, such situations may be solved with less damage.

“The incident that happened once again showed the need for insurance in various fields, especially in business, the importance of insuring entrepreneurs with their goods and property. Thanks to insurance, you can get out of such situations with less damage. The entrepreneurs who suffered as a result of the fire note that the provision of material assistance in the absence of insurance is another humanistic step by the President of Azerbaijan and shows once again that the state is always close to the entrepreneurs,” he said.

Mammadov stated that business entities, especially small and medium ones, should be interested in insuring their goods and property.

“In this sphere, it is necessary to expand cooperation between entrepreneurs and insurance companies. SME Development Agency plans to take relevant measures to educate entrepreneurs about the importance of insurance, as well as to expand cooperation between insurance companies and entrepreneurs”, Orkhan Mammadov noted.

Orkhan Mammadov also said that to this day, 210 entrepreneurs applied to the SME Development Agency for financial assistance. The working group has already decided to provide material assistance to 161 entrepreneurs.

Moreover, he also added that material assistance is provided through Kapital Bank and TuranBank and funds are provided via bank cards and banks do not charge for the provision of cards.

Touching upon accident, a strong fire occurred in the Diglas shopping center in Baku on March 26.

During the fire, four floors of the shopping center burnt down, each of which holding an area of 2,500 square meters, the attic 1,200 square meters and a three-storey basement with household goods, clothes and other products. In total, the fire covered an area of 16,500 square meters.

On March 28, a meeting was held under the chairmanship of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in connection with the fire in the Diglas shopping center.

During the meeting, the Azerbaijani president stressed that a commission will be set up to fully investigate the fire and prepare proposals, and at the same time, businessmen will be promptly provided with material assistance.

In addition, the Small and Medium Business Development Agency under the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan was established by the decree of the President of Azerbaijan dated December 28, 2017. The presidential decree of June 26, 2018 approved the statute and structure of the Agency.

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